The Disease Has Invaded into the Vital Part of the Body

Characters:

Pronunciation: bing(4) ru(4) gao(1) huang(1)
Explanation: To say someone is seriously sick , or a metaphor to say something is going towards a deathly end!

Tone: Neutral

The Story: In the Spring and Autumn time, Lord Jin Jing was sick, so he sent his servant to Kingdom Qin for a doctor. Lord Qin Huan appointed a famous doctor named Yuan to Kingdom Jin.

Before Yuan's arrival, Lord Jin Jing dreamed that 2 little boys were talking. One said: "It is said that the man who is coming is a smart doctor, where should we hide then?" Another one said: "Don't worry, let's stay above Gao (diaphragm) and below Huang (heart). Then what can he do to us?"

After Yuan came and finished the physical examination, he shook his head and said in a depressed tone: "Your illness has developed between Gao and Huang, It can not be cured by either acupuncture or any other medicine. I am very sorry that I can not help." Lord Jin Jing sighed and knew that this was a very talented doctor, as he knew exactly where the disease was. He sent Yuan back to Qin with a valuable gift and later died of the disease.

Usage Example (Pinyin): Nin(2) de gou(3) yi(3) jing(1) bing(4) ru(4) gao(1) huang(1) le, wo(3) kong(3) pa(4) bu(4) neng(2) yi(1) hao(3) ta(1) le.

Usage Example (English translation): Your dog's disease has invaded into the vital part of the body. I'm afraid I can't cure it.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.